An Epistemic Analysis of (Un) Sustainable Business

Michel Foucault famously analysed orders of knowledge, 'epistemes', in past European ages. In this study, his analytical method is fruitfully applied to gaining a better understanding of business sustainability within and beyond the Modern episteme. After an introduction to the contextual...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 2011-10, Vol.103 (2), p.239-253
Main Authors: Birkin, Frank, Polesie, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anthropologization
Business
Business and Management
Business community
Business Ethics
Chaos theory
Climate change
complexity
Ecological literacy
Ecological sustainability
Economic sociology
Economism
Education
Empirical evidence
Empiricism
episteme
Epistemology
Ethics
Europe
foucault
Human ecology
Knowledge
Management
Metaphysics
Methodology
Morality
Philosophical thought
Philosophy
Professional ethics
Public opinion
Quality of Life Research
Realism
Science
Scientists
Society
Sustainability
Sustainable development
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Summary:Michel Foucault famously analysed orders of knowledge, 'epistemes', in past European ages. In this study, his analytical method is fruitfully applied to gaining a better understanding of business sustainability within and beyond the Modern episteme. After an introduction to the contextual background for the study, this article provides (i) a justification for the use of a Foucauldian epistemic analytical method, (ii) an outline of the method, (iii) an application of the method to identify four sets of questions (morality, specialisation, anthropologization and mathematicization) that are both direct derivatives of the Modern episteme and problematic for sustainable development, and finally (iv) an application of the method to consider evidence for the emergence of a new episteme. Conclusions are also provided.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/s10551-011-0863-4